Stadank0 wrote:Forgot what the set of 7 is...Could you refresh me? And curious if you could give me a sub recommendation...One that you know works rather than relying on marketing data.
"Set of 7". That's the complete set of REW measurements that I need, to get the full picture of how your speakers and room are performing together.
Using my cryptic shorthand abbreviation system, those are:
L-- : (Left main speaker alone, everything else turned off)
R-- : (Right main speaker alone, everything else turned off)
LR- : (Left and right main speakers together, subs turned off)
--S : (All subs on together, not individually, mains turned off)
L-S : (Left main plus all subs on together, not individually, right main turned off)
R-S : (Right main plus all subs on together, not individually, Left main turned off)
LRS : (All speakers on together)
If you have more than one sub, then in a separate MDAT file do a test with each of those alone, but for the actual "set of 7" I need to have all subs either on or off together: The reason being that low frequency sound is not directional, and they all act as one single unit anyway, as far as your ears and brain are concerned, so that's the way I need to see them.
My cryptic abbreviation system is necessary because REW only allows you 19 characters to name each measurement! Never figured out why: I think Ill ask John if he can increase that, as it's a real problem when you have a lot of measurements in one file. So I created that system to abbreviate the actual speakers in use to three characters, and I've standardize on that for all my REW measurements. It makes it very easy. For 5.1, I add another three letters: "l" "c" and "r", in lower case, to designate the left-surround, center, and right surround speakers. And for 7.1 setups, I add an x and y, for the other two speakers. As you can imagine, it gets complex with multi-channel!
Sub recommendation:
Good subs are pricey, unfortunately. And the lower they go, the more they cost. Personally, I really like the Neumann KH810: it goes down to 19 Hz (for real, not just on paper), and up to 300 Hz (I've never pushed one that high, but I believe it would have no problem getting there), with +/- 2dB precision. Even at 18 Hz it is still +/-3 dB, which is pretty amazing (and Neumann claims 17 Hz to 600 Hz, +/-6dB... even more amazing). However, it is a huge monster! The box measures something like 13" x 15" x 25" deep, IIRC, and it weighs a ton! Even so, it would fit in your room just fine, no problem. Under the front window, turned sideways, would be perfect. And you would only need one: you could continue using the two Tannoys in addition to that that one, with some careful setting of the controls and careful positioning in the room. The KH810 is designed for up to 7.1 systems, so it has extensive bass management capabilities built-in: much more than your Tannoys do. Very complete. The entire back panel is full of connectors and controls (you can also get a remote controller for it). But it is rather expensive! Take a seat and a deep breath before you check the price list.
Neumann also makes the KH805, which is practically the same as the KH810, but much less expensive as the built-in bass management system is designed for 2.1, not 7.1. Also a very impressive sub. Just like the 810, it goes down to 18 Hz and up to 300 Hz at +/- 3 db.
The nearest thing that Focal makes would be the SW 1000 BE, which is about the same price as the KH810, but not quite up to the same specs.
The Genelec 7360 is another option that I've heard good things about. Dynaudio has an interesting one out now, the 18S, which has two speakers, one at each end of a long box, phase flipped. Never tried it, but the concept is fascinating. Their 9S is pretty good too: it's basically half of the 18S.
Other options: Adam Sub-12. Quite decent. Possibly the Presonus Temblor T10, down at the lower end of the quality and price scale. I wouldn't go lower than that, though. There are a couple of others, cheaper, but I would not recommend them.
If I had to chose one from that list, and money was no object, and I needed multi-channel, I'd probably go for the KH810. On a tighter budget, or for pure stereo (2.1), I'd go for the KH805. As I mentioned, these two are basically the same speaker, same specs, same power, except that the 810 has the more advanced bass management for 7.1, while the 805 is for 2.1. The 805 would be fine for your room, and is a lot less expensive than the 810, the Focal SW 1000 BE, or the Genelec.
These KH810 and KH805s are from the old Klein & Hummel guys, a highly respected German manufacturer from a few decades back.: Neumann bought them out several years ago, hence the "KH" part of the model number. Neumann was smart enough to keep the K&H product line relatively unchanged when they bought them out: about the only thing they did was change the logo on the box! Great speakers, if you can afford them.
That's my $0.02 on subs for today....
- Stuart -
With 2 subs I am able to hit multiple issues..I then put some massive eq on it! This will ultimately be Stuart's domain, but I made it do some cool stuff.... 
Its always nice to hear the feedback.... The work has been long and hard and I'm feeling proud of the result so far.
